Nick

Object of building a team, regardless of sport, is for core group to arrive on a mission at about same time. It requires planning but also contingency plans. HELL LOOK AT THE CELTICS. Losing out on Paul George has the team in a scramble mode. But I digress. Pablo Sandoval has not done his part. I don't care what anyone says, his $19.5M dollar contract has held our baseball people hostage. He's been given an opportunity that no one else would have received had it not for his contract. We were hoping for the best when there was absolutely no statistical data to back up his 'return'. Anyone who has been watching the games lately must SEE that Pablo is horrendous defensively at 3B. It's not simply the errors he commits but the balls he does not get to that lowers our overall defensive metrics. Be patient. Be patient. Well,we have a problem here. Unless we've misread Marrero and Lin, that in fact they will perform better as major league players than they did as minor leaguers, we need a solution at 3B. I don't know about you but I rather roll a dice on Devers than to trade away more prospects for a rental. Trading for Donaldson just makes no sense before giving Devers a chance. We lose prospects, we're stuck with his contract through 2018 and it further delays debut of Devers. I HAVE READ THAT HIS DEFENSE BY SOME ACCOUNT IS MAJOR LEAGUE READY. What will it hurt? Really, what the f*** will it hurt? Is he that fragile that initial failure will put him out of baseball forever? Really? Hell, he's been in slump at lower level before, and he's recovered. Be patience. Yep.

Wade Miley turned in a disastrous performance in Milwaukee on Monday afternoon, allowing seven runs and nine baserunners while recording five outs. After a strong beginning to the season, Miley is 3-7 with a 5.20 ERA. He had a 2.32 ERA in five April starts, a 3.97 ERA in five May starts, a 7.48 ERA in six June starts and now a 37.80 ERA after his first July start. Since he was acquired last July in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, Miley is 5-12 with a 5.58 ERA in 28 games for the Orioles. Adding together last year’s two-month salary, this season’s and an option buyout – assuming the Orioles don’t pick up his $12 million option for 2018 – the Orioles will have spent $11-plus million on Miley if he parts ways with the team at year’s end. Meanwhile, the man the Orioles traded for Miley, lefty Ariel Miranda, is 7-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 17 games for the Mariners, is making $541,000 in 2017 and can’t be a free agent until after the 2022 season. This is why you don't pay out $10+M for pedestrian, middle of the road pitchers. We got Chris Freakin' Sale.

For me, it's about a GM making a deal when they didn't have to and it turns out costly. Crawford and Pablo deals were such deals because they were head scratchers for me. Price's performance is on him. But that was a FA signing I thought we had to make. I've rehashed this several times. Did we overpay? Probably but under the circumstances, DD had every right to make that move.

sorry I caouldn"t resist

I was reduced to watching only those games started by E ROD. Nothing else about that team held me captive. Who wants to watch a crappy team? There's better things to do. (Unrelateed....Wade Miley gets knocked out in 1 2/3 innings pitched, 7 hits, 7 runs, all earned....they only seemed to get up for the Red Sox)

I've not followed the Yankees that closely. It appears they have full of young position talent. Basically they are tying to outscore their opponents and have succeeded. I guess the question is what pieces they will add to put them over the top. The window is never open for very long. My perception is they need to add starting pitchers?

i was simply correcting a poster that stated 1 earned run in 6 innings equated to 3.33 ERA.

Opening Thread by our esteem colleague, Moon posted on March 30th A Realistic View at 2017 Part II With opening day just around the corner, and the roster taking shape, it's time for Part II. (Part I reference: http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads...at-2017-Part-I ) Here's my Red Sox positional depth chart (assuming 100% healthy): C: Leon, Vazquez, Swihart (AAA), Butler (AAA) 1B: Moreland (vs RHPs)/ Ramirez (vs LHPs- DH vs RHPs), Travis (AAA), Craig? 2B: Pedroia, Hernandez (AAA), Holt, Rutledge 3B: Sandoval, Hernandez (AAA), Rutledge, Holt SS: Bogaerts, Hernandez (AAA), Holt, Marrero (AAA) LF: Benintendi, Young (DH vs LHPs), Slesky (AAA), Moreland, Brentz (Trade/DFA) CF: Bradley, (Beni from LF), Holt RF: Betts, Young, Holt, Moreland SP: Sale, Price, Porcello, Rodriguez, Wright, Pomeranz (long relief) AAA: Kendrick, Johnson, Elias, Owens, Velazquez, Haviland RP: Kimbrel, Thornburg, Smith, Kelly, Ross, Hembree 4 options at 3B is not playing for the parent team right now.....pretty amazing. And look at our relievers. I'd say to be up 3 games is pretty fortunate. Sale and Kimbrel have been lights out.

He may walk if he can get $30M for 4 years but I don't see a market for him at that price. Say what you will but he will not walk for less money. Baseball players do not get the big endorsement shoe contracts that basketball players do. NBA guys can take a cut in pay and still make money. Not so much in baseball. Ortiz endorsement is nowhere close to what NBA stars are getting.

I don't see us giving up Devers for Donaldson.

1/6 x 9/1 = 9/6 = 1.5 ERA

What's the difference between a "ready" player failing and a "not ready" player failing? Just as management make mistakes on 'ready' player, they could easily make a mistake on 'not ready' player. Is it possible that Will Middlebrooks was never cut out to be a long term major leaguer? I completely reject the notion that if you don't first succeed you're doomed? Jackie Bradley Jr. vehemently disagrees with you.

I do want to point out that Sox went 85 years without a world series ring. When you're close, do you throw kitchen sink at it?

I'd like to see him opt out. My only comment was good or bad, DD did what he had to and I understand why he did it. He didn't much have choice. That said, his $31M would certainly come into handy in keeping young kids together. I hope we opt out. As I've said, I can see DD extending Pomeranz' contract. That's his guy. ONE THING WE'VE NOT CONSIDERED IS THAT CURRENT CBA ENDS ON DEC 1, 2021. Expect luxury amount to increase.

We're the only team to have signed 3 in top 30 (2, 13, 20). Yankees signed two so far. (4, 16). 5 players remain unsigned in top 30.

Assuming we hold the 15-1 lead, here's updated record by starting pitchers. 44-26 when the BIG 5 starts. Pitcher GS W L Chris Sale 17 13-4 R Porcello 17 7-10 Pomeranz 16 10-6 Edward Rod 10 7-3 David Price 7 4-3 Brian Johnson 4 4-0 Wright 5 1-4 Vlazques 2 0-2 Kendrick 2 0-2 Fister 2 1-1 Total 82 47 35

We need to tip our hats off to the Sox scouting department. We seem to uncovered them and find a way to sign them despite constant effort to equalize the playing field by mlb.

Price's contract is what we had to do to get him. It was no one's fault other than those that put us in a back to back last place finishes. Do I need to remind anyone of Lester fiasco? Hiring of DD was a mandate by the ownership group for the baseball people to do whatever it takes to become relevant again. We don't win last year without Price pitching 200+ innings. We still had to go get Pomeranz when Kelly, Buchholtz, E Rod and Wright all went through down periods. He's only 1 1/2 years into his contract. Shouldn't we give him at least 3 years before we criticize him? Injuries are part of the game. It's not as though he gained 30lbs and got out of shape. I just don't see the hate coming at him from all angles. His fastball touched 97 mph last game. Why tear down a player? His money is not an albatross the size of Pablo's.

Daniel Flores, C, Venezuela Flores is the second-ranked player in the class according to Baseball America, and some teams reportedly have him as their number one player. The catcher is known mostly for his defensive chops, as he’s already an elite backstop. Specifically, he already gets the ball to second base at elite pop times and does well blocking pitches. Offensively, Flores is a switch-hitter who relies more on power right now but has plenty of potential to develop as an all-around force at the plate. Danny Diaz, SS, Venezuela The Red Sox are likely to stick in Venezuela for their next top-rated international prospect in Diaz. Although he is listed as a shortstop, he is almost certain to move to the hot corner and could do so as soon as he signs. Ranked as the seventh best international prospect by Baseball America, he is the anti-Flores as he’s known for his bat more than his glove. The big infielder is projected to have above-average power potential and could have an above-average hit tool as well. He’s expected to be able to stick at third base given his strong throwing arm and quick hands, but he’ll have to keep his size in check to avoid moving across the diamond. Antoni Flores, SS, Venezuela Flores is the final top-50 prospect connected to the Red Sox and comes in at number 35 on Baseball America’s rankings. He is clearly a step below the other names listed here, but scouts rave about his makeup. It’s unclear whether or not he’ll be able to stick at shortstop at this point, but he’ll probably need to stay in the middle infield to have value due to a bat that doesn’t project to grow all that much. UPDATE According to Baseball America, the Red Sox have agreed to deals with all three of the players listed above as well as shortstop Nelfy Abreu out of the Dominican Republic and shortstop Denny Daza out of Venezuela. None of the signing bonuses have been announced at this time, and the bonuses for the players out of Venezuela may take longer to be announced at the request of the family of the players. HELP IS ON THE WAY KIMMI

Red Sox trade Nick Longhi to Cincinnati for international bonus pool money It appears we picked up some talented 16 year olds in the international draft. There's now a hard cap based on team's finish from prior year but pool money slots can be traded. Sox went way over the hard cap amount (say $4.6M or so) so they needed 'additonal money'. Thus the trade.

sure would be nice to get 'good' Carson Smith back before September.

Yes....that in itself will determine the depth of the impending cliff that we're all going down on!!!!!

Hopefully that someone will be better than Aaron Hill.

I would first wait and see where E Rod is. I then would wait and see how close C Smith is to returning. I suppose Fister could fill in for E Rod. I still think we need another bullpen arm. I would try our guys in the minors first. I think we have some options there. I'd still like to see us give Devers a look. This is sort of 'freebie' year for Devers. We will still have him under team control for 2018-2023. He's NOT going to need all of his 'options'. I doubt he'll run into using up all of his option years. All he needs to do is to play some defense. I just can't see him hitting worse than Marrero. I just hate to give up top talent at this point for a rental. Say what you will but Kimbrel had three years, Pomeranz, two and a half years and Sale had three years left on their contract at the time of the trade. Ziegler was the only rental, and we needed him.

this! (basically we should have just written a check for $95M and cut him so his bwar would be 0.0)